The role of employer unions in hegemonic struggle, interest representation and promotion of managerial perspectives in Turkey

Abstract

This article explores power and hegemony in the context of industrial relations in Turkey. Analysis of interest, articulation and representation is built around three strands: a Gramscian reading of hegemony, periodization through the political economy of industrial relations and the communicative action staged by the prominent employer union. Starting with the 1970s, continuities and shifts in discourse are identified. The rise and fall of different voices (i.e. insiders and outsiders) in texts point towards a search for a full blown hegemony in the 1990s with a new set of challenges confronted and resolved through new legislation passed in 2003.